System of electric distribution and circuit control.



APPLICATION FILED OCT. 7, 1908.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET L z g I a ,I/IIIIVIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIA P. W. HARRIS.SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION AND CIRCUIT CONTROL.

APPLICATION FILED OGT. 7, 1908.

Ptented J an. 5

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I I z ATTORNEY FORIYW. HARRIS, OF \VILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR,BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC &

MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF EAST PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATIONOF PENNSYLVANIA.

SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC DISTRIBUTION AND CIRCUIT CONTROL.

Application filed October 7, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FORD 1V. citizen of the United States, and aresident of l Vilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Systems ofElectric Distribution and Circuit Control, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to systems of elec- HARRIS, a

. tric distribution and circuit control, and it has for one of itsobjects to provide a novel and eflicient system of the class aboveindicated which shall embody an automatic Cir served position.

In order to make the utility of my invention apparent, it is assumedthat, when an observation is made by an attendant, the indication isthat the circuit-breaker is open. It will be readily understood that itis particularly desirable to know whether the circuit-breaker was openedautomatically by reason of an overload or was opened by means of themaster controller.

The system is, furthermore, adapted to interrupt the distributingcircuit under overload conditions, and the master switch or controllerfor governing the operation of the breaker is so arranged as toreturn-to its off position unless it is manually held in the one or theother of its two operating positions. When the master switch is in itsoff position, it may be locked for the purpose of interrupting thecontrol circuit in which the indicators are included.

Figure 1 of the accompany ng drawings is a side elevation of a switchingdevice or controller constructed in accordance with my invention. .Figs.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are detail views of the device shown 1n Fig. 1,and Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of the Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Jan. 5, 1915.

Serial No. 456,615.

system which embodies a controller shown in the other figures.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive, of the drawings, the controller 45here illustrated comprises a stationary supporting frame or body 1,which is secured to a face plate or panel by means of screws 3, aninsulating plate -lsecured to the frame 1, a movable contact-bearingdrum 5, an operating'handle 6 and an inclosing casing 7.

The contact-bearingdrum 5 comprises two sections 8 and 9, one of whichis rigidly con nected to a shaft 10 and the other of which is connectedthereto by means of a lostmotion connection. The drum section 8 isconstrained to return to a position which corresponds to the of?position of the switch by means of a spring 11 which is coiled about theshaft 10 and the ends of which respectively engage a stationary pro--jection 12 and a projection 18 on the drum.

The section 9 is mounted on a bushing 14 which is rotatably mounted onthe shaft 10 and is provided with a flange 15. A bushing 16 having aflange 17 is fixed to the shaft 10 and is operatively connected to theother bushing by means of a pin projection 18 which engages a segmentalslot 19 in the flange 15. The contact ring segments 20, which aresecured to the drum sections 8 and 9, are adapted to be engaged by aplurality of stationary contact fingers 21 that are mounted on theinsulating plate 4.

The operating handle lever 6 is secured to the outer end of the shaft 10by means of a hinge joint 22, the shaft being hollow and containing arod 23 the outer end of which is provided with a roller 24 to engage acam surface 25 on the handle lever, and a spring 26 being provided atthe opposite end of the rod for forcing the roller into engagement withthe cam surface. The inner end of the rod 23, which is engaged by thespring, is secured to a contact-bearing ring member 27 by a pin 28. Theend surface of the ring 27 is provided with an annular contact member 29which is engaged by a pair of contact fingers 30 that project upwardlyfrom the insulating plate 4 to which they are secured.

- The shaft 10 and the bushing 16 are pro vided with longitudinal slots31 through which the pin 28 projects and the arrangement of parts issuch that, when the operating handle is in its normal position, thespring 26 forces the rod 23 and the contact-- bearing disk member 27toward the insulating plate or panel 2, thereby causing the contactfingers 30 to engage the ring contact member 29.

Vhen the operating handle 6 occupies a position corresponding to the ofiposition of the drum, a pair of stationary projections 33 on thestationary frame 1 are directly opposite recesses 34 in'the ring member27 and. if the handle lever is raised when the drum is in this position,the cam surface 25 acts upon the roller 24 and forces the rod 23 and thedisk member 27 away from the plate 2 The contact member 29- isconsequently inoved out of engagement with the stationary contactfingers 30 and, since the recesses 34 of the disk member 27 are engagedby the projections 33, it is obviously impossible for the operatinghandle or the shaft to be rotated, independent rotation of the rod andshaft being prevented by the engagement of the pin 28 with the slots 31.The contact fingers 21 which engage the drum section 9 are adapted toregister with shallow grooves 35 in the contact surfaces of the members20 in predetermined position, thereby increasing the resistance tooperation of the drum from these positions. By this means. the drumsection 9 is constrained to lag behind the major portion 8 of the drumto the maximum extent permitted by the lost-motion connection which isestablished by the engagement of the pin 18 with the segmental slot 19.

Referring to Fig. 9 of the drawings, in I which like parts aredesignated by the same reference characters, a distributing circuit36-37 is provided with a circuit-breaker 38 having a closing magnet 39,a tripping magnet 40 and an auxiliary switch 57 which is operativelyconnected to the main breaker. A series relay switch 42 is provided forthe purpose of automatically energizing the release magnet 40, underpredetermined conditions in the distributing circuit. A plurality ofindicating lamps 42, 43 and 44 are included in the system and aswitching device or controller 45, which is intended to be adiagrammatic representation of the device illustrated in Fig. 1 of thedrawings, is adapted to govern the circuit-breaker 38 from a remotepoint. Assuming that the controller 45 occupies its off position andthat the circuit-breaker is open; if the controller is moved to positiona, a circuit will be established from line conductor 36 throughconductor 46, contact fingers 30 (that are bridged by a contact member29), conductor 49, contact fingers 21 (which are bridged by a contactmember 20 when the controller 45 occupies position a), contact finger21, contact member 20", finger 21,

conductor 55,- contact terminals 56 (which are bridged. by a contactmember 57 when the circuit-breaker is open), conductor 58, magnet 39,and conductor 59 to line conductor 37. When energized, the magnet 39closes the circuit-breaker 38 and the auxiliary switch 57 interrupts thecircuit of the closing magnet 39 so that energy is only temporarilysupplied thereto. As soon as the circuit-breaker is closed, the, maincircuit is established and an auxiliary circuit is established fromconductor 49through conductor 60, indicating lamp 44, conductor 61 andcontact fingers 62 (which are bridged by a contact member 63 when thecircuitbreaker is closed) to the line conductor 37. The lighting of thelamp 44 indicates the position of the circuit interrupter to theattendant who is manipulating the controller at a distant point. As soonas the attendant releases the controller 45 from the position a. thecircuit-breaker having been closed, the spring 11 will return the drumsection 8 to its off position but, by reason of the lostmotionconnection between the drum section 9 and the drum section 8. thesection 9 will remain stationary. Should the current traversing thedistributing circuit exceed a predetermined amount, the series relayswitch 42 will be raised and a circuit will be established,independently of the controller 45, from-conductor 46 through switch42*, tripping magnet 40, conductor 61, contact fingers 62 and member 63to the line conductor 37. lVhen energized, the tripping magnet serves toopen the circuit-breaker and to interrupt the distributing circuit. Assoon as the circuit-breaker occupies its open position, a circuit willbe established from conductor 60 through indicating lamp 43, conductor64, contact fingers 65 (which are now bridged by the contact member 63)to the line conductor 37. Another circuit will be established fromconductor 49 through contact fingers 21 and 21 which are bridged by acontact segment 20 that is carried by the drum section 9, indicatinglamp 42and conductor 64, circuit being completed as above indicated.Thus, the fact that the circuit interrupter has been openedautomaticallv by the action of the series relay switch will be madeknown to the attendant, since both indicating lamps 42 and 43 arelighted. Assuming that the circuit-breaker is again closed and thatcontroller 45 is moved to its position b, a circuit will be establishedfrom conductor 49 through contact fingers 21 (which are now bridged bycontact member 20 conductor 71, and magnet 40 from which point circuitis established as already described. The circuit interrupter will thusbe opened but, in moving the controller 45 to position b, the contactsegment 20 is moved out of engagement with contact finger 21 and,consequently, when the controller is returned to its off position fromposition 6, only indicating lamp 43 will be energized. The behavior ofthe indicating lamps may be outlined as follows: When the lamp 44 islighted, the circuit-breaker is closed when lamps 42 and 43 are bothlighted, the circuit-breaker has been opened by reason of the closure ofthe series relay switch and when only lamp 4:3 is lighted, thecircuit-breaker has been opened by means of the controller 45.

It is to be understood that structural modifications may be effected inthe controller illustrated, and that variations in the circuitconnections may be made within the spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a controller, the combination with a rotatable shaft, acontact-bearing drum secured thereto, means for retracting the said drumto a predetermined position, and a plurality of stationary contactmembers, of a second drum member rotatably mounted on said shaft andconnected to the first drum by a lost-motion connection and means forlocking one of the drums against rotation when in its off position.

2. In a controller, the combination with a pair of contact-bearingdrums, stationary contact fingers therefor, and resilient means forretracting one of said drums to a predetermined position, of means foroperatively connecting the drums together by a lost-motion connection,means for locking one of the drums against rotation and means forraccentuatmg predetermined positions of the second drum.

3. The combination with a rotatable shaft, two drum sections securedthereto and movably mounted thereon respectively, a lost-motionconnection between the drum sections, a plurality of stationary contactfingers, and a spring for retracting the shaft and one of the drumsections to a predetermined position, of an operating handle for theshaft, and means dependent on said handle for locking the shaft againstrotation.

4. In a controller, the combination with a rotatable shaft, an operatinghandle lever therefor, a pair of drum sections one of which is looselyand the other rigidly mounted upon said shaft, contact ring segmentsmounted on said seCtionS and stationary contact fingers cooperating withsaid ring segments, of a lost-motion connection between the drumsections, and means for locking the loose drum section underpredetermined conditions and means for accentuating predeterminedpositions of contact between the stationary fingers and the loose drumsection.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto siibseribed my name this 25th dayof Sept,

FORD W. HARRIS. Witnesses FRED W. CLOUD, BIRNEY HINES.

